Bravery or Fear- You Decide

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“Bravery and fear are the same emotion.” I heard those words come across the radio and immediately a smug chuckle found its way across my lips. I was thinking of my children’s faces as they walked down the long corridor, snaking through the iron barriers to the entrance of Space Mountain. This was their first trip to the Magic Kingdom. They had a swell of emotions inside of them. The anticipation of the unknown had reached maximum capacity on the 10 hour drive the day before. They were excited. They were scared. They were confused. They were full of adrenaline.

It was funny to watch how they both reacted to the situation. My daughter, nine, is the inquisitor. She asked a million questions. How fast will it go? Will it be fun or scary? Will it hurt? What happens if it breaks? Mommy do you like roller coasters? Daddy have you even been on Space Mountain before? This was her way of preparing for the unknown. My husband and I continued to tell them very few details of the ride. We would just repeat over and over again to her relentless questions, “Just trust us! It will be fun. You will like it.”

My son, 7, who lives at a speed of mach 3 on normal days was running around mach 10 or 12 at this time. He was bouncing, climbing, swinging on the poles, tugging at our arms. He was bopping here and there so fast he was only hearing half of the answers to his sister’s questions. He would swing into the conversation and hear the question, “Will it be safe?”, and then he would swing the other direction as we answered. You can image our difficulty in reassuring him when to him the answers sounded like: “Will…break….will…hurt…roller coaster… Space Mountain….loved it.”

As we stepped up to the gate awaiting our four man space shuttle it hit them; frozen and silent they stood. This was the moment – the moment where bravery and fear were the same emotion. The moment when they had to take the step of bravery and experience the thrilling, pitch black ride into the unknown or the moment they froze in fear never to experience the ride. You could see the panic in my son’s eyes as the cart roll up, and in all his innocence he looked at us and said, “I am scared!” His honest confession was followed by his sisters, quiet whisper, “me too.”
We reassured them once again, “You are supposed to be a little scared that is part of the thrill. Trust us it will be worth the ride. Trust us!”
Are you frozen by your fear? Are you standing in line asking God question after question to prepare for the unknown instead of stepping on the ride and trusting Him? Are you bee-bopping through life so fast that you can’t hear God telling you to step on the ride?

Turn your fear into bravery… it is the same emotion it is just a matter of what you do with it. Stand frozen or step in faith.

Your walk of purpose is supposed to be full of these fearful moments. And just like we told our children, God is telling you, “Just trust me it will be worth the ride.”